Clothesline tightening apparatus



Dec. 6, 1949v G. PEARSON CLOTHESLINE TIGHTENING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 24, 1946 II Ililr mllri""it I'll Patented Dec. 6, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHESLINE TIGHTENING APPARATUS Gullick Pearson, St. Paul, Minn.

Application October 24, 1946, Serial No. 705,361

2 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in clothes line tightening apparatus, wherein it is desired to provide a simple and effective means for stretching a clothes line taut.

There are many advantages in being able to take down a clothes line when it is not in use. During periods of inactivity the lines often becomes soaked with rain and collects dust and dirt from the air. As a result when a line is left out from week to week, it is apt to soil clothes suspended therefrom, unless it is thoroughly cleaned before use. In view of the difficulty often experienced in stretching clothes lines they are often left up when not in use in spite of the difficulty involved.

7 The object of the present invention is to provide a means for supporting a clothes line which permits the clothes line to be quickly and easily stretched taut. My device can also serve to slacken the line when it is so desired. As a result the clothes line may be easily and quickly taken down when not in use.

A feature of the present invention resides in the speed with which the line may be tightened. A rotatable support is horizontally mounted as a support for one end of the line. Spaced hooks are provided on this rotatable support. The line is so attached to these hooks that the rotatable member may be rotated to tighten the line. As the line is simultaneously tightened adjacent each hook or the rotatable member, a minimum of time is required to tighten the line.

A further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a means of tightening the line so that the strain on all portions of the line will be equalized. As a result one portion of the line will not be stretched tight while another section of the line will be relatively loosely supported.

These and other objects and novel features of my invention will be more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of my specification:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clothes line showing my line tightening device in use thereupon.

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the line tightening device showing the construction thereof.

The clothes line support A is used for tightening the clothes line B. In the drawings a single support is provided for supporting one end of the various parallel portions of the clothes line. The other ends of these individual line portions may be held by any suitable horizontal support at a point spaced above the ground and accordingly for the purpose of illustration I have shown merely a series of spaced hooks about which the line may be engaged. The clothes line support A includes a pair of substantially parallel standards l0 and I! which may be anchored in the ground or may be held in upright position in any suitable manner. These standards i0 and II are connected at their upper extremities by a horizontally extending connecting bolt 52 which holds the standards in properly spaced relationship. The connecting bar l2 may be provided with a threaded portion such as It at each end thereof. A nut M is provided on the threaded portion l3 to bear against the inner surface of the standard H3 and a second nut i5 is provided on the threaded portion l3 to engage on the opposite side of the standard 10.

Similarly a Spacing nut I6 is provided on the threaded portion l3 to bear against the inner side of the standard H and a similar nut II is pro-- vided to bear against the outer side of the standard l. The nuts H5, l5, l6, and I! hold the standards properly spaced and provide the necessary room therebetween for supporting the tubular rotary sleeve l9.

The member l9 comprises an elongated tubular sleeve having end closure plates 20 and 2! closing opposite ends thereof. The closure plates 2!] and 2! are provided with axial apertures 22 and 23' respectively extending therethrough, the apertures 22 and 23 being of proper size to fit about the rod I2 so as to form a bearing for the sleeve l9.

Washers 2 1 and 25 may be provided between the ends of the sleeve is and the nuts I4 and I6, respectively. These washers 24 and 25 are of slightly larger outer diameter than the sleeve 19' to prevent the line B from extending over the end of the sleeve.

A series of spaced hooks 26, 21, 29, 3E], and 3l are provided on the sleeve l9. These hooks are designed to support one end of the individual parallel portions of the line B. Opposed hooks 32, 33, 34, 35, and 3b are provided on a fixed horizontal support at a point spaced from the sleeve l9. These latter hooks may be supported by the cross arm of a clothes pole, by the side of a house or building, or any other suitable horizontal support.

The line B is provided with a loop 3! at one end thereof which may be attached to an end hook of the fixed series of hooks, such as the hook 32. In applying the line, the sleeve I9 is rotated until the hooks thereupon are in opposed -line is in place the sleeve 19 is rotated so as to tighten the entire line simultaneously. The line B is freely slidable through the various hooks so that the tension on the various para elel portions of the line may be equalized duringthe tightening operation. In order to aid in the tightenin of the line B, I provide a series of angularly spaced radially extending spokes 40 which are attached to the sleeve 19 near' one extremity thereof. The spokes 49 may be Welded at their inner end to the surface of the sleeve 19 or radially extending holes may be drilled in the sleeve near one extremity thereof and the spokes threaded or forced into these holes. a

In order to hold the sleeve 19 from rotation I provide an L-shaped catch 41! which is transversely slidable through the standard 10. This catch 41' is provided with a handle end 42 which limits the movement of the catch through the standard in one direction. When in one extreme pcsition the catch 05 extends in the path of the spokes 49 so as to engage against the same to hold the sleeve 19 from rotation. As the catch 92 is retracted the spokes 40 may rotate freely without interference therewith.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my clothes line tightening dewithin the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A clothes line tightening device comprising a pair of substantially vertical spaced standards, a cross member connecting said standards, means on said cross member holding said standards in properly spaced relation, a tubular member encircling said cross member, spaced hook means on said tubular member, a series of angularly spaced radially extending arms on said tubular member adjacent one end thereof,

and means engageable with any of said arms to hold the-tubular member from rotation.

2. A clothes line tightening device comprising apsir ofsubstantially vertical spaced standards,

a cross member connecting said standards, means on said cross member holding said standards inprbperly spaced relation, a tubular member encircling said cross member, spaced hook means on" said tubular member and a series of angularl-y -sp'ac'ed radially extending arms on said tubular member adjacent one end thereof, and trigger means supported by one of said standards and movable into and out of the path of movement of said arms to hold the tubular member from rotation.

GULLICK PEARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,008,788 Cornett Nov. 14, 1911 1,051,185 Anderson Jan. 21, 1913 1 ,056,120 Poindexter Mar. 18, 1913 1,130,704 Blosick Mar. 9, 1915 1,140,787 Baeumle May 25, 1915 2,166,771 Robertson July 18, 1939 2,399,070 Swanson Apr. 23, 1946 

